California: mysterious billboards using Uvalde massacre to stem exodus to Texas

Mysterious billboards appeared in cities such as San Francisco and Los Angeles warning California residents not to move to Texas. The billboard reads "The Texas miracle died in Uvalde. Don't move to Texas,” alongside a hooded figure and a crossed-out "Don't mess with Texas" slogan.

The billboards refer to the Uvalde (Texas) massacre last May 24 in which 19 students and two teachers at Robb School were killed by a former student. However, the billboards fail to mention that California, not Texas, was the leading state in the number of "active shooter incidents," according to data provided by the FBI for 2021. The billboards in California refer precisely to the Uvalde tragedy.

The exodus from California to Texas

The key now is to find out who is behind these ads and what their intention is. The truth is that in recent years the exodus from California has increased. Census data revealed that in 2018 and 2019 net migration from California to Texas was between 45,000 and 50,000 people per year, roughly double that of previous years. Several large technology companies also moved their headquarters to Texas in recent years, including Tesla, Oracle and HP Enterprise.

More recent data from 2021 revealed that California is the state that lost the most inhabitants due to internal migration. (-367,299 inhabitants); followed by New York (-352,185) and Illinois (-122,460).

During the pandemic, California was closed while Texas remained open. In fact, many of the citizens who move to Texas report being attracted by the low taxes, inexpensive housing and unregulated lifestyle.